DUHAMEL DU MONCEAU, HENRI LOUIS (17oo 1782), French botanist and engineer, was born in Paris. His dis covery of the fungus destroying the saffron plant in Gatinais gained him admission to the Academy of Sciences in 1728. From then he devoted himself to vegetable physiology, and experimented on the growth and strength of wood, the growth of the mistletoe, on layer planting, on smut in corn, etc. He was probably the first, in 1736, to distinguish clearly between the alkalis, potash and soda. For many years he was inspector-general of marine. He died in Paris on Aug. 13, 1782.
His principal works are : Traite des arbres et arbustes qui se cultivent en France (1755); La Physique des arbres (1758); Des Semis et plantations des arbres et de leur culture (176o) ; Ele ments d'agriculture (1762) ; De l'exploitation des bois (1764) ; Traite des arbres fruitiers (1768) ; Elements de l'architecture navale (178 5) .